Insecure snowflakes and aggression

Perhaps those who have taken to calling Donald Trump an insecure snowflake will now understand better how so many people feel about trigger warnings and micro-aggressions.

— Davis Brown

Salisbury

More power to NC solar

North Carolina ranks second in the nation for solar capacity, just behind the pro-environment giant, California. That’s incredible!

However, it concerns me that the growth of solar is slowing down. Even though growth of the industry provided an estimated 6,000 jobs in the state and $2 billion in investment, special interests are getting in the way of solar.

In particular, Duke Energy doesn’t find it within its best interest to support the solar industry. To put it bluntly, Duke loses money when it is forced to purchase renewable energy from independent developers, as required by PURPA, a federal law promoting alternative energy production. So instead, Duke is pushing to limit solar developers from building projects by reducing the length of its contract for buying energy from solar facilities, making it impossible for small energy companies to compete with the energy giant. Aka, decreasing jobs and hiking up energy cost.

As the General Assembly goes into its “long session” this year, I ask everyone to encourage government leaders in your area to support solar. It’s not just about the environment — it’s about North Carolina jobs and North Carolina economy. Solar power development is simply a smart decision.

— Cinnamon Moore

Salisbury

‘Failure’ not an option

A couple of comments in response to Ms. Cauble’s letter titled “Praise God for nation’s new elected officials”: First, I am a proud career federal employee, a citizen of the United States, and a taxpayer. I have worked in three different VA medical centers over a 19-year career. The vast majority of my fellow employees have been hard workers and dedicated to providing the best service they can to our nation’s veterans, even if doing so takes us out of our “comfort zones” at times. I don’t consider that a “failure” to be remedied.

Second, “true America” should replace, among other things, “entitlements.” Programs like Social Security and Medicare have served millions of Americans of various socioeconomic backgrounds over the years (as well as having been signed into law under Democratic presidents). Community services and fundraising are extremely important and valuable, but I don’t think they could meet the need if they were to replace entitlement programs like these.

Whether Ms. Cauble intended or not that her readers could draw these conclusions, the implications are still apparent.

— Dawn Detgen

Salisbury